The present invention relates to a covering for exposed rafters, and, more specifically, to an essentially maintenance-free and decorative covering, or sleeve, for exposed rafters.
A rafter is generally defined as a sloping roof support, and more specifically defined as any of the sloping supporting timbers, beams, or boards that run from the ridge beam of a roof to its edge.
Many of today""s architectural styles rely on the use of exposed rafters, or at least on having significant portions of the rafters exposed, in order to create an appearance or an effect. For example, architectural styles such as xe2x80x9cArts and Crafts,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cBungalow,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cPrairie,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cLow-Countryxe2x80x9d incorporate exposed rafter tails as an important exterior design component. Typically these designs do away with the soffits, fascia boards, and the other related materials that are used in many of the other styles and designs in order to cover, but not necessarily protect, the exposed rafters. Subsequently, the exposed rafters, and even some of the covered rafters, are unprotected from the elements. Since rafters are generally made of wood or wood based products, they are susceptible to accelerated aging, deterioration, and other damage associated with this exposure. This typically requires the owner of the home or building to make costly and oftentimes frequent repairs that can be either cosmetic or structural in nature. And, while the cosmetic repairs may require only simple caulking and/or painting, the structural repairs may be more serious and may require substantial cover-up or repair including unsightly bracing.
An example of prior art related to roof protection is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,023 issued to Kittilstad. This invention includes not only a roof edge fascia system for securing a rubber membrane against the surface of a roof, but also a means for attaching a decorative cover plate to the securing system described. This invention, however, only covers the parapet, and since it is designed for use with flat roofs it makes no provision for sloping roof lines, which makes this invention inappropriate for standard residential roofs. Another example of roof protection is contained in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,586 issued to Leslie et al. This invention describes an organic rafter having an adjustable length rafter tail, which allows the user to laterally align an individual rafter tail with the other rafter tails on the same side of the building, and which, arguably, provides a rafter tail having better reinforcement and alignment characteristics. This invention, however, describes a system that completely encloses the rafters of the houses built with that system and, therefore, it is not intended to be used with houses having rafters that are designed to be visually exposed.
Based on the products available to the consumer, a need remains for an apparatus that can be used for covering, protecting, and possibly decorating exposed rafters that is not only economical, but is also easy to manufacture, install, and maintain.
According to its major aspects and briefly recited, the present invention is an apparatus that provides both a protective and a decorative covering, or sleeving, for the exposed ends of rafters. Generally, the apparatus is a U-shaped sleeve member that has upper and lower horizontal flanges that run the entire longitudinal length of the sleeve. The upper flange provides a means for securely attaching the sleeve to other roofing components, and together with the bottom flange forms an external channel that is perpendicular to the interior channel that can be used for carrying soffit material between the rafters. Furthermore, to complete the coverage and, therefore, the protection afforded the exposed rafter by the present invention, an endcap is attached to the outer end of the U-shaped sleeve member. Additionally, to further enhance the appearance of the building, the flanges, or other portions of the rafter sleeving, are designed to easily, and securely, carry decorative trim and/or molding pieces.
A feature of the present invention is that it can be made of materials such as extruded vinyl or aluminum, which provides many advantages including: being essentially maintenance-free; allowing the invention to be made in a variety of colors and textures; and not requiring the use of complicated and expensive fabricating equipment.
Another advantage of the present invention is that the installation of the present invention requires only those tools, fasteners, materials, and skills that are standard and customary in the siding industry; therefore, no new skills or tools would be required to install the present invention.
Another feature of the present invention is that it can be manufactured in various standardized shapes and sizes, which allows the builder to directly order from stock without the need for special ordering and having to deal with the delays associated with such ordering practice. Additionally, since a rafter sleeve can have a much larger cross section than that required to accommodate the covered rafter, the rafter sleeve can provide the further advantage of being oversized so that it can give a rafter member a more architecturally and aesthetically correct appearance, and at a cost that would be much lower than the cost associated with using larger rafter lumber.
Still another advantage of the present invention is the opportunity for a builder to order the present invention in large lengths from stock, which can then be cut into the lengths and the pitch angle required for the project at the job site.
These and other features and their advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the arts related to home building and siding installation from a careful reading of the Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments accompanied by the following drawings.